This was the message given by Tagbilaran Mayor Dan Lim a day before the Philippines celebrates its 113 th Independence Day rites. An interesting sidebar to this year’s observance in the national level, the first under Pres. Benigno Simeon Aquino III, is its marked contrast to previous years. News reports noted that organizers made it a point to limit the number of floats during this year’s parade to “only one”. This is a subtle repudiation of the pompous parades during the term of former Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The mayor, however, had another message to his listeners. “We should distinguish between freedom and independence because this defines a person’s outlook in life,” he noted. Speaking during his weekly radio program “Ang Mayor sa Dakbayan” aired live over Station DyTR, Lim said many people think of independence in the context of freedom.

“Under a democracy, everyone enjoys a certain degree of freedom in virtually all aspects of life,” he noted. Lim added, however, that a lot of people do not take their independence seriously because they prefer to rely on other people. “People can enjoy freedom without enjoying independence, but one cannot have independence without freedom,” he noted. According to the mayor, there are two types of people in society – the people on whom others depend and those who depend on others. “It has nothing to do with status in life, intelligence or physical capacity. It is a state of mind of the individual,” he pointed out. Lim said that a person who has enough dignity and self-respect will stop at nothing so that he can stand on his own two feet.  On the other hand, those who are contented to depend on others will do anything to convince themselves that they need others.

 The mayor said one problem that future generations will have to face is the threat of an imbalance between the growing number of dependents and the diminishing number of independents. Speaking about the growing number of informal settlers in the city, he noted that the problem is not just about homelessness and landlessness. “Build a home for them and they will sell it immediately if they have a mendicant mindset,” the mayor warned. Lim said that even with its meager resources, the city can still help the poor to improve their lot.  On the other hand, even the most expensive house will not be enough to improve the lives of people who do not want to be responsible for their lives. The mayor said there is a need for a concerted effort from all sectors to stem the tide of mendicancy and help people to embrace self-sufficiency.

“There are no limits for people who dare to dream dreams and sacrifice to fulfill them. But even the most affluent nation on earth will never be able to help people who want to remain where they are and depend on others all their lives,” he said. Lim said the war for independence is war that every human being will fight for the rest of his life.  “It is a war that each of us will have to fight – and win,” he added.